


Part-Time Job/Unrequited Crush

by Zanne



Series: Ten Inch Hero Crossover [1]
Category: Supernatural, Ten Inch Hero
Genre: Crossover, Gen, prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-19
Updated: 2011-06-19
Packaged: 2017-10-20 13:54:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/213480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zanne/pseuds/Zanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam gets a part-time job at a sandwich shop with a guy that looks disturbingly like his brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Part-Time Job/Unrequited Crush

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to janekrahe and agent_jl36 for agreeing to beta. Kripke and Mackay own all. (Originally posted: 7/10/10)

Sam studied the sign hanging upside down in the window, biting his lip as his eyes flicked up to stare inside the sandwich shop, which seemed to be populated by nothing but women. He watched them talking and laughing with each other – a girl with short, blonde hair hunched over a computer near the register, a longer haired blonde cleaning the counter, and a red-haired girl standing by the stove, absently poking at something on the grill with a spatula.

Then his gaze shifted, and he saw his own reflection staring back at him from the clear pane.

The boy trapped in the glass was tall and lanky, far too skinny for his own height, in Sam’s opinion, though there were muscles hidden somewhere on that stick thin frame. His hair was tousled and falling over his eyes, looking as if he’d just rolled out of bed, and the shade in the windowpane gave the impression it was dark, though the sun that fell upon his crown teased some lighter colors from the tangled tresses. The reflection’s features were sharp – sharp chin, sharp cheekbones, with a nose a touch too broad for that thin-boned face. Dean told him once that he looked like a rangy alley cat, all skin and bone and nasty temper to match, but with the way they’d been fighting lately, Sam secretly understood where the comparison came from.

He knew what Dean would say about this, but Sam was determined, and Dean and Dad had been out of town for a few days already. Sam thought it couldn’t hurt to earn a little extra cash while they were gone.

College wasn’t going to pay for itself, after all.

He hesitated on the sidewalk, debating for another moment as he chewed on his thumbnail, before he straightened his shoulders and pushed his way through the front door. 

                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bell’s cheerful jangle announced his arrival, and he could see everyone’s heads swivel his way as he caught their attention.

“Can I get you anything, hot stuff?” the red head asked with leer, leaning over the front counter and showing off the curve of her breasts.

“Isn’t he a little young for you, Tish?” the blonde at the computer asked with a grin.

The red-haired girl – Tish - swatted at her with a dishtowel. “Shut up, Jen!”

The final girl gave an amused shake of her head and turned towards Sam. “What would you like? Today’s special is pastrami on rye, but we’ve got some great roast beef.”

“I’d like…uh, I’d like a job,” Sam said, flinching a little at being the center of attention for the three women. With it just being his brother and his dad, he was more used to being around men, and the lack of any kind of female role model made itself known whenever Sam tried to talk to a girl.

“Lucky us!” Tish smiled. “How old are you anyway?” At the look the long blonde haired one gave her, Tish shrugged and said, “For the application, Piper. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

“Seventeen?” Sam managed to get out, trying not to fidget.

“You sure about that?” Piper asked with a soft smile, noting his hesitation.

“Alright! Another man on the floor! Now I won’t feel so objectified,” came a voice from out-of-sight, and a tall guy came out the back room and shoved Tish aside to lean on the counter. “Tish, quit threatening the poor kid with your boobs, and go take Mr. Keller his patty melt.”

Tish rolled her eyes, grabbing the plate that he shoved under nose. “So glad you’re back from break, Priestly. I don’t know how we survived without you.”

Sam stared wide-eyed at the newcomer, whose bright blue T-shirt declared once a month to be Tuna Fish Tuesday, and gulped in discomfort. The man had large green eyes outlined in a dark black, with several piercings adding highlights to his already stunning features. He had a neatly trimmed goatee, and his sideburns pointed like arrows across the hollows his cheeks, which only served to accentuate his full lips, the tiny ball of silver beneath a strange sort of focal point. A tattoo swirled its way up his neck, and to top it all off, his hair was a vibrant pink Mohawk, which did nothing to detract from his overall attractiveness.

He looked just like Dean, or an alternate Dean at least, if Dean wasn’t so worried about appearing the perfect soldier in front of Dad.

Priestly leaned further forward and took on a more serious tone. “Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan?” he asked Sam.

“Um...no, thank you?”

Priestly’s eyes twinkled as he moved on to the next question. “What do you think about aliens?”

“I’ve never met any, as far as I know,” Sam stuttered, before adding off-handedly, “probably because George Lucas has them all under contract.”

Priestly laughed and reached out to grab the whiteboard leaning on the counter, scribbling something messily across its surface. He held it up towards Sam and asked, “What’s this say?”

Sam’s eyes fell to the words scrawled across the board and a flush spread over his cheeks. “I’m not reading that in front of them,” he mumbled at Priestly, his eyes skirting towards the women watching.

Priestly’s gaze widened in surprise and he leaned forward to look at the board upside down. “You can read that? I saw it on the back of an album cover once. You’ll tell me when they’re not around, right?”

“Um, sure,” Sam agreed, his cheeks still pink.

“You’re hired!” 

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The part-time job was pretty great. Sam was scheduled to start about an hour after school got out and worked until 9:00, which gave him enough time to get some of his homework done at the school library beforehand. Dad and Dean were still gone, the werebear hunt in Minnesota delayed while they waited for the next full moon to rise, which meant Sam was on his own for at least another three weeks.

Yeah, the job was great…except for the fact that it seemed he had almost every shift with Priestly. It was awkward at first, Sam’s immediate reaction Dean-responsive. It took him a while not to respond with what he’d say to his brother, their relationship strained recently the more Sam disagreed with their father.

It was more awkward later, when Sam realized he might like Priestly a lot more than he did Dean.

In fact, when Priestly started to call him Sammy, Sam found he didn’t mind. When Priestly called him that, it wasn’t nearly as annoying as when Dean did it.

Sam kind of liked it.

Priestly was studying to be an engineer at UC Santa Cruz, so Sam asked him everything he’d ever wanted to know about college. Priestly got Sam’s jokes, and didn’t tease him for thinking that _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_ was the best, even though Priestly voted for _The Original Series_ because the skirts were shorter. Priestly listened when Sam talked, and didn’t immediately dismiss everything he had to say in favor of their dad.

It didn’t matter that Priestly had never met Sam’s father, Sam just instinctively knew Priestly wouldn’t put up with any of his dad’s bullshit.

Priestly was far too… _Priestly_ , to succumb to John’s Winchester’s demands.

The awkwardness only intensified when he started to look at Priestly less like a brother and more like a man. 

                                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The kid wants your bod,” Tish teased quietly, nudging Priestly with her elbow as she glanced over her shoulder at Sam.

“What?” Priestly asked, too focused on heating up a couple of sandwiches to pay her much mind. “Sam and I are buds, aren’t we Sam?”

Sam tore his eyes away from the flexing of Priestly’s bicep as he artfully flipped the sandwiches to toast the other side, Sam’s face flushing pink as he stuttered, “Um…yeah. Buddies.”

“We still goin’ rollerblading this weekend, Sammy?”

The smile that broke over Sam’s face brought out the depths of his dimples, and Tish rolled her eyes at Piper, jerking her thumb at Priestly and mouthing, “Oblivious!” in the other girl’s direction.

Jen laughed quietly at the computer, watching Sam watch Priestly as he went about his tasks behind the counter.

“You gals comin’, too?”

“You bet,” Piper agreed. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Sure thing, Priestly,” Jen said.

“What about you, babe?” Priestly asked Tish. “Haven’t spent nearly enough time with you since you’ve had that late night class this semester.” He planted a loud smack on Tish’s mouth when she turned her face up to answer him, the kiss deepening for an uncomfortable moment as Sam’s smile sunk inwards, leaving him looking lost as he fumbled with the trays and dropped them to the floor with a clatter.

“Sorry!” he yelped, ducking to clumsily gather them together, taking longer than necessary to give him those few moments to recover.

Tish pulled away and frowned at her boyfriend, punching him in the arm as he winced in confusion. “What’d I do?!”

Piper patted Sam on the back when he set the trays on the counter, rubbing his shoulder soothingly as he hunched with a disappointment that she didn’t think he even understood.

“I…uh…didn’t know you two were going out,” Sam said, shuffling his feet. “That’s…great.” He untied his apron, and he looked a little lost, so Piper took it from his hands to put in back. “It’s time for me to go…g’night everybody.” Sam gave an awkward wave and hightailed it out the back, not hanging out like he usually did after his shift.

Priestly watched him go, one eyebrow arched high, and then turned to Tish with a teasing grin. “I think someone’s got a little crush on you.”

“Jerk!” Tish huffed angrily, punching him on the arm once more. Jen and Piper quickly added their own jabs, leaving Priestly sporting several new bruises as he locked up alone an hour later. 

                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Priestly went to open the sandwich shop the following day, yawning into his hand as he hid his eyes from the scalding light of morning behind a pair of dark sunglasses. When he could finally focus once more, he was surprised to see Sam leaning against the door, arms crossed and one knobby knee bent to support himself against the stucco.

“What’re you doin’ here, kid?” Priestly asked as he rumpled Sam’s hair with obvious affection. “You’re not on until the afternoon shift!”

Sam ducked from under his hand, his expression tight. “My family got back from their business trip, and we’re leaving town today. I wanted to give you guys my notice.”

“What? That’s fast. What about school?”

Sam shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

“Wait a sec, and I’ll get your pay.”

A car horn honked impatiently across the street; Sam’s body tightened and he frowned over his shoulder.

“It was payday yesterday, remember?” Sam said, turning back to Priestly with a small smile. “’Sides, my brother’s waiting. Dad’s already left.”

Priestly squinted across the street at the large black car, but he couldn’t make out much of the driver behind the sun brightened glass. “That’s your brother?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, that’s Dean.”

Priestly hesitated for only a moment before leaning over to give Sam a quick hug. Sam’s hands came up to clutch at the back of Priestly’s shirt, and he turned his nose into the curve of Priestly’s shoulder and breathed in deeply, not wanting to let go.

Then the car horn blared again, and Sam quickly released Priestly and stepped back.

“G’bye,” he said, before turning to run his way across the street. Priestly heard the creak of the car door opening and a gravelly voice ask, “Was that your girlfriend?” before the door slammed shut and the motor growled as the car took off down the boulevard.

Priestly watched the car until it disappeared around the corner, and then he turned to open up the sandwich shop for the day.

He was gonna miss that kid.  



End file.
